Chinese authorities in the troubled northwestern region of Xinjiang have launched a new crackdown on millions of cell phone users amid tight security in the wake of last week’s violence in the south of the region.

UHRP– A new report from the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP) details the repression of religious freedom among Uyghurs in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). “State persecution of Uyghur religious practice in China has increased tremendously in recent years, and this report illustrates how Uyghurs’ fundamental right to freedom of religion is denied by Chinese authorities,” said UHRP Director Alim Seytoff. Based on interviews with Uyghur witnesses to repression of religious freedom in East Turkestan, government documents, and reports from media, human rights groups, and academic observers, Sacred Right Defiled is the first systematic documentation of the repression of Uyghur religion published by a human rights group since 2005, and focuses on recent developments since that time.

China last week warned of a terrorist threat facing the nation following deadly clashes on April 23 in Xinjiang (the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region) that left 21 dead — the worst episode of violence in four years. The dead included 16 Uyghurs, three Han Chinese, and two Mongolians.

A Uyghur student at the Beijing-based Central University for Nationalities has been seriously assaulted by his Han Chinese roommates, sparking protests and an order by university authorities for the two ethnic groups to be housed separately in a bid to ease tensions, according to a student.

Born three years before China annexed East Turkestan and named it Xinjiang, Rebiya Kadeer has lived a remarkable life. Born into poverty, she became one of China’s seven richest persons and model citizen before she was imprisoned for rebellious activism.

World Uyghur Congress (WUC) spokesman Dilshat Rexit yesterday protested National Security Bureau Director Tsai Der-sheng’s (蔡得勝) remarks hinting that Uighur activists are terrorists, urging that Taiwan, as a sovereign country, should have its own national security policies, instead of following those of Beijing.

Two community police personnel have been killed and three motor vehicles set on fire in China’s troubled western region of Xinjiang’s Hotan county, Uyghur sources said Friday, triggering a fresh security alert after the worst violence in four years earlier in the week.